Kuya J Restaurant - SM Araneta City — Restaurant in Quezon City

To management,

I am writing this letter to make a complaint and also give feedback. This is related to our third experience dining in at Kuya J—SM Cubao branch.

Our third was the worst experience. It was yesterday, Sunday, around 12:00 PM.

First, all of the staff are not accommodating, especially the manager. Not professional, not even smiling. It seems like they do not want to assist us. There were no staff walking or assisting around for the customers. To the point that we had to go to there in their area at the front so we could be assisted.

2nd, the serving was late; if we do not go there to the front and ask for a follow-up, they will not serve it.

Thirdly, knowing that it was the summer season and the time was 12:00 pm, the air conditioning was very low. When we asked to even adjust it a little bit, they said, "Ganyan na po talaga yan e." It seems like it is not even working, to the point that you'll get sweat.

Lastly, and it is the worst. We bought coffee outside because my mom and my aunt felt a little bit dizzy. When we were waiting for our order to be served, we also asked your staff if they had sugar—a small amount of sugar for the coffee. One of the staff said, Wait, and they'll get it." However, they did not come back, nor did they give us an update. When we made a follow-up to the manager, she said, Wait, and then she even asked, For what?" When we said, For our coffee, she said, "Naubusan na kami." Seriously? How come you are a restaurant serving leche flan and halo-halo, and then you don't have sugar? We were just requesting a small amount of sugar, but they were so weedy/stingy!

Yes, it was our third time experiencing it, even though we were hesitant to go there again, but to give them the benefit of the doubt and to give them a chance, maybe the management had already changed, but no, they are still the same!

We will not go back there again, nor even recommend it to our...

I would like to share our experience earlier while having dinner at Kuya J – SM Cubao.

This is not a complaint, but rather feedback on the disappointment my husband felt while celebrating his birthday today.

Upon ordering, I asked the waiter if there was a discount for birthday celebrants. He answered, “Wala po,” which was completely fine—we were just asking.

While waiting for our order, I approached the counter to check if they had a slice of cake available for purchase. The staff said there was none, and I overheard a female staff member commenting, "Magkano ba order nila?" I chose to ignore it.

Since there was no cake available, I decided to buy one outside. Luckily, I found one in AliMall. When I returned, I asked a male staff member (in uniform) if I could borrow a lighter, but he didn’t lend me one and never came back. We asked another staff member, a man wearing a white polo (who seemed new), and a female staff member eventually came over to light the candle. (Thank you for that.)

What saddened me was that there was another birthday celebrant at a nearby table. The staff must have overheard them singing because, the restaurant played a Happy Birthday song and the staff members went to their table to sing along. My husband and I waited, hoping they would do the same for him, but unfortunately, they didn’t. (after ng song dinaanan nalang kami)

It felt sad and my husband was upset. It seemed like the reason they played the birthday song for the other table was because they were a large group and had a bigger bill than ours (which was around ₱1,500). It was disappointing to feel that customers might be treated differently based on their order amount.

I hope the management can address this concern. Again, we are not angry or filing a complaint—we just hope that all customers, regardless of their bill, receive equal treatment.

Thank...

I remember I had a good experience when I ordered some scallops for takeout when the pandemic started in 2020. So, this restaurant left me a good impression. This year I visited this restaurant because I overheard that the halo-halo was heavenly. I ordered the solo size. It was ok but the service was really slow and their cutleries were sticky. I visited around mid-afternoon, so most of their staff, though inside the restaurant, were on a break. They were undermanned at that time and the staff during that shift were inattentive. I brushed off this experience and tried again with a group. Again, the service was awful. Though the food seemed good, it took them a long time to take notice of us. I ordered one of those pandan desserts and mine was placed in a mason jar. I don't think it was the standard container since all of my companions got a short thin rounded dessert glass. Again, it was mid-afternoon. Same scenario, most of the staff were on a break but they were inside the restaurant. I understand that they're not paid at this time so they couldn't care less about their afternoon clients but still, I hope they're a little bit more concerned. No one lifted a finger even if they only needed to attend to a few tables. It took forever to wave at the staff for the bill, and another eternity for the bill to arrive. We had to go to the counter to give our payment because once again, no one was paying attention. I can't put this any another but their service...